Nation can't afford election boycott

People who are new to the nation's political scene are often bemused by the colors that are attached to various parties and political phrases. For instance, "black gold" -- referring to corrupt money -- "White Terror," "red" China fever. Or the colors green, representing the pro-independence ideals of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), and blue, associated with the pro-unification KMT and People First Party (PFP).

Last Sunday's KMT campaign rally, however, raised the question of whether Saturday's local government elections will be the usual battle between blue and green camps, or instead a fight between supporters of green and yellow -- the latter color representing the New Party, with the symbolism of "pure Chinese."

Marching alongside KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou was New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming, KMT Vice Chairman Kuan Chung and KMT Taipei County commissioner candidate Chou Hsi-wei. There was one characteristic those three share in common -- the blood of the so-called "pure Chinese."

Where was Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng? When approached by reporters asking why he hadn't appeared with the other pan-blue heavyweights, he said, "Nobody told me where to go."

Poor Wang. After trying hard to pretend he was one of "them" -- that is, one of the "Chinese" -- during his chairmanship campaign against Ma in June, he is still not "pure" enough to be in their league. Now, with Ma at the helm of the KMT, Wang appears to have been shunted aside, along with the rest of the so-called "pro-localization" faction of the KMT.

In the wake of recent corruption scandals involving the DPP administration, there have been calls from disappointed pan-green supporters to boycott Saturday's election in order to teach the DPP a lesson. While this view is understandable, in Taiwan -- which hasn't yet become a "normal" country -- ?such boycotts would only hurt the nation as a whole. They would send the wrong message to a hostile China, which covets Taiwan and every day searches for ways to annex it.

The true power of the people lies in the ballots in their hands. By exercising their fundamental right to vote, the people are demonstrating this strength. Likewise, giving up on voting means giving up the sovereignty of the people. This only leaves room for opportunistic politicians to pursue their cynical machinations, unhindered by the public will.

With Lien's speech at Peking University in May, the KMT made public its alliance with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Saturday's elections can therefore be seen as part of a long-term campaign by the KMT, in cahoots with "Red" China, to annex Taiwan. It is fair to say that a victory for the pan-blue camp would be tantamount to a victory for the CCP.

Some pan-greens fear that if they vote for the DPP, the party will not engage in much-needed reflection and reform. But in thinking in such a way, people are mistakenly equating the DPP with the pan-green camp -- ?and punishing the entire camp for the DPP's sins. The fact is, there are other pan-green choices available, such as the TSU.

Rather than sitting at home watching cable news and ranting about the DPP administration, it is time for angry Taiwanese to show their true colors with their votes.

Only by safeguarding Taiwan's pro-localization identity through the ballot box can the nation's democracy be safeguarded and consolidated.

KMT has lost its way in election campaign

By Chin Heng-wei

Last Sunday, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) pulled out all the stops ahead of Saturday's elections, in a bid to boost their popularity. But the key to winning the elections will be whether they can mobilize their diehard supporters. The party that can better mobilize its base will have an advantage.

Many people are saying that voters don't care about these elections, and that this is the case for both KMT and DPP supporters. After KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou launched a march to mobilize supporters, the DPP organized a march in response. Interestingly, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) was unwilling to ally itself with the DPP, while the People First Party (PFP) refused to dance to the KMT's tune. PFP Chairman James Soong even ridiculed the demonstrations. As a result, it seems that Saturday's elections are basically a battle between the two major parties.

Even though both parties organized marches on Sunday, there remain many issues in need of discussion. People say that the DPP is good only at election-eering. This may be the case. But putting aside the local and foreign nature of the two parties for the moment, the DPP's performance on Sunday was far superior to the KMT's.

First, each party had a different strategy. From the beginning, the KMT has billed the elections as the first step for Ma, the pan-blue camp's savior, in his campaign to win the 2008 presidential election. It has therefore targeted President Chen Shui-bian almost exclusively.

From the exposure of scandals by TVBS related to former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Chen Che-nan and the first family we can see that the pro-blue media and legislators have already started to campaign for the 2008 presidential election. That is why the KMT called on its supporters to protest in front of the Presidential Office.

The problem is, that there are no elections scheduled for Taipei City this time around. Gathering tens of thousands of people in front of the Presidential Office was simply a way of pandering to the blue camp's "presidential dream."

The DPP's strategy was clearly different. The party gathered supporters and began its activities in Pingtung County, the southern tip of Taiwan, and then moved north, ending with events in Taipei County, the most highly contested district in this election. Meanwhile, it also launched marches in all other counties and cities led by its local candidates. This is how a campaign should be. More importantly, it evoked memories of last year's hand-in-hand rally for many people and was in line with its slogan of "uphold reform, defend Taiwan."

Following on from its success in uncovering the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) scandal, the KMT thought that it could defeat the DPP using the slogan "oppose corruption, save Taiwan." However, perhaps candidates themselves are even more important than their partisanship in local government elections.

Among the KMT's nominees for the 23 counties and cities, at least eight are allegedly involved in corruption. Its nominee for Taichung City, Jason Hu, is accused of converting his years of party service into government service in order to increase his pension, and its nominee for Taipei County, Chou Hsi-wei, is suspected of corruption as well. In total, one-third of its nominees are suspected of being involved in corruption.

By brandishing slogans opposing corruption, one would have to ask is the KMT fighting itself? The French poet Charles Baudelaire said, "The devil's deepest wile is to persuade us that he does not exist." This also goes for corruption in the KMT.

Chin Heng-wei is the editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.